I know it’s already August 6th, but don’t worry — part of the reason I’ve been slow to post is that I’ve wasted no time in acting on this list. I have a tasty g-f zucchini spice bread recipe comin’ soon. 🙂 For now here are some ways I plan to embrace and celebrate August — please share if you have any more ideas!

Bask at the pool before it closes

Go to a lavender farm

Go berry picking (blackberries, I hope?!)

Go to farmer’s markets for peak summer produce

Eat and cook with said produce — peaches, zucchini, basil, etc.

Do something on a river (canoe, kayak, rope swing) if time allows

Have a bonfire and make s’mores

Celebrate “Back to School” by taking a nostalgic walk through campus, acquiring a confidence-boosting new outfit, and getting organized/re-energized for the year (even though I’m not a student anymore!)

I’d like to add things like ‘go to a county fair’ and ‘take a mini roadtrip,’ but my August weekends will be delightfully occupied with pre-wedding festivities for a friend. Hopefully you will have time to do the things that I cannot! 🙂

I also have a long DIY To-do/Wish-list… hopefully I can share some of it soon.

August is one of my favorite months. We get to enjoy all the richness of summer while also savoring foreshadows of fall. The days remain hot and lazy, but in Ohio at least the humidity declines, and so the sky gets bluer and sunlight takes on a dusty golden quality. Sometimes, we get a huge copper-colored moon. The grass gradually becomes crisper and more fragrant underfoot, and unseen cicadas return, loud and reassuring. I like how alive the air feels in August. It’s calmer than July, not as sweltering and sticky, but it is not yet drowsy with fall.

In summer I also revel in the seemingly boundless harvest here. Though Ohio farmer’s markets may not be as dazzling as those in California, we nonetheless feast on corn and zucchini, cucumber and eggplant, green beans and peppers, peaches and nectarines, plums and cherry, corn and melon, apricot and honey. And more. There are so many good things to eat.

I am determined not to let this pass me by.

So, what am I going to do about it?

Starting today I am going to start making resolutions focused on taking advantage of every month’s simple pleasures and unique opportunities. Think New Year’s resolutions but smaller, and more focused on enjoying each month’s pleasures than on trying to improve myself. Believe me, I spend enough time trying to improve myself. Why not appreciate what’s already perfect? Besides, I believe that cultivating happiness inherently makes for a better individual.

I will make a separate post of August resolutions later, as I want more time to think about them.
Do you have any suggestions? What should I do to ensure I thoroughly enjoy August before it’s gone?